


Harvey Girls Lemonade

by sarahgirl1998



Category: Harvey Street Kids (Cartoon), Multi-Fandom
Genre: Best Friends, Business, Comedy, Conversations, Crossover, Cute, Developing Friendships, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Money, Multiple Crossovers, Sneezing, Talking, Talking Animals, Teamwork, lemonade stands
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:53:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23455825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahgirl1998/pseuds/sarahgirl1998
Summary: It's time for the lovable Harvey Girls - Audrey, Dot and Lotta - to make some money for themselves by stepping into the lemonade business. As they prepare and sell one serving of deliciously sweet and sour lemonade after another, they meet all sorts of characters from all over the universe - and gain quite a few new regulars in the process.Just how much money can Audrey, Dot and Lotta earn from their lemonade stand? You'll have to read and find out! (Make sure you have lots of free time before you read this.)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

It was a lovely morning on Harvey Street, the start of a brand new day. Three adorable little girls were in their respective homes, still asleep in their beds. As soon as their alarm clocks reached seven, however, they went off, sending all of the girls' eyes wide open as they hit the snooze buttons. They sat up in their beds for about a minute, helping themselves wake up. Audrey, with the brown hair in three pigtails, rubbed her eyes with both of her fists. Dot, with the dark skin and the black hair, yawned rather endearingly into her hand, and Lotta, who was the bigger-sized girl with the blond hair, stretched her arms up over her head. Then they all stepped out of their beds and began to get ready for the day.

They brought some clean clothes into their bathrooms, changed out of their pajamas, and took a warm bath. Each of them feeling like a new girl, they dried themselves off, put on their favorite clothes, and brushed their teeth. Any sour sensations that had found their way into their mouths were washed away by the sweet, fresh scent of toothpaste and mouthwash.

Then they brushed their hair, running their preferred hairbrushes through every tangle they could spot and smoothing them out until they got them exactly the way they wanted them to look. Now they were neat and tidy, but they had to fill their stomachs before they were ready to get the day started. They headed out of the bathrooms and went down the stairs into the kitchens, where they all made and ate their breakfasts. Audrey had some peanut butter toast and a bowl of honey-cinnamon cereal; Dot had some buttered toast and some green apple slices; and Lotta had a bowl of marshmallow cereal.

Finally, Audrey, Dot and Lotta's morning routines were complete. Before they wished their parents goodbye and left their houses, however, they each filled up a basket with some items and brought them with them. Each of these baskets held the same things; they were going to need as many of these as they could carry.

Because today wasn't going to be like any other day they'd had before. Today the girls were opening a business together, so they could all earn some money for themselves. But what none of them realized was just how successful their business would be... let along among people they didn't know much...

By the time Dot had gotten to the stand on the side of the sidewalk, Audrey and Lotta were already there with their baskets. She smiled at them and placed her own basket on the table.

"Good morning, guys!" Dot greeted them.

"Hey, Dot!" Audrey replied.

"Good morning, Dot," Lotta replied.

"If my calculations are correct," Dot mentioned, "all of these ingredients should be enough to produce enough delicious, quenching, sweet and sour beverages for people all over town to enjoy."

"Oh, I bet!" said Audrey. "This is gonna be so much fun!"

With that, she, Dot and Lotta took out each of everything in their baskets. They had been holding a few large lemons, a couple bags of sugar, and quite a few bottles of cold water. Aside from these, they'd brought some measuring cups, a few spoons and knives, a juice squeezer, a clean plastic pitcher, and three large packs of plastic, disposable cups.

They were starting a lemonade stand.

First they began to make the lemonade. Audrey cut a couple of the lemons in half, and then Lotta pressed the insides of these lemons against the squeezer, one half at a time. The juice fell into the bowl surrounding the squeezer, and when it couldn't hold any more, Dot took the squeezer and poured it into a measuring cup before she handed it back to Lotta. While Audrey and Lotta continued to cut and squeeze these lemons, Dot poured some water into the juice to dilute its sour flavor. Then she estimated how much sugar each mixture of water and lemon juice would need to taste better. She added a pinch of pure white sugar, then stirred the mixture with a metal spoon to help dissolve it. Satisfied, Dot poured the mixture into the pitcher.

This whole sequence repeated, over and over, until the pitcher had been filled to the top. Then the girls prepared their packs of plastic cups for when a customer asked for a serving of their drink. And just as they finished, someone came to their stand.

"Why, hello there!" Dot greeted them. "How can we help you?"

The first person who had come to the lemonade stand was a man wearing a red hat, a red shirt and blue overalls. His eyes were blue as well, albeit a lighter blue, and when he spoke, it was in a high-pitched Italian accent.

"Hello, may I-a buy a glass'a lemonade, please?"

Lotta thought that his voice sounded a bit like Mickey Mouse - except Mickey didn't have an Italian accent. Of course, she didn't tell the customer that.

"Of course you can!" Lotta picked up the pitcher, then picked up one of the plastic cups and filled it halfway with lemonade. Then she handed it to the customer. "That'll be 25 cents."

"Thank-a you."

The man reached into his pocket, pulled out a quarter, and handed it to the Harvey Girls. As the girls pulled out a large coin bank and dropped the quarter inside, their customer took a sip of the lemonade. His eyes widened as he took a minute to let his taste buds comprehend the flavor, and then he swallowed.

"Mama Mia!"

"How is it?" Dot wanted to know.

"How is it?!" The customer looked at the cup, and then smiled in delight. "It's-a perfection!"

All three of the Harvey Girls gasped in happy surprise when they heard that.

"In fact, I think I'm-a come back tomorrow," the customer went on. He reached into his pocket once more, pulled out two more quarters and gave them to the girls. "I'm Mario, by the way."

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Mario!" Audrey replied with a smile. "And thanks for stopping at our lemonade stand!"

"Bye-bye!" Mario walked away from the stand, contentedly enjoying his glass of lemonade as he did so. The Harvey Girls stayed where they were, each smiling in joy.

"I can't believe this," said Lotta. "He paid us extra for one glass of lemonade!"

"And to think that was our first customer of the day!" Dot replied.

"I don't know about you girls, but I think we're in for an awesome work day," said Audrey.

Not long after she'd said that, she heard a bit of someone else's voice greet her: "Hi!"

Audrey winced a bit in surprise, and then turned to look at the next customer.

"Hey, there!" Audrey greeted him with a smile.

Now that she'd seen him, though, she noticed this customer shared some similarities with the last one who came to this stand. This one was also wearing a hat, shirt and overalls, and had blue eyes, but his hat and shirt were green rather than red.

"You know, you kinda look familiar," Audrey commented.

"Yeah, didn't we sell you some of our lemonade just now?" Lotta agreed.

"Actually, no, you didn't," the customer replied. "My name's-a Luigi, and I have a big-a brother named Mario."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Lotta looked a bit embarrassed. "We didn't realize how similar you guys looked..."

"It's alright," Luigi replied. "I'd like a glass of lemonade, please."

"Piece of cake." Audrey picked up the pitcher, pulled out another plastic cup and filled it halfway with lemonade. Then she handed it to Luigi. "That'll be 25 cents."

"Excellent. Thank-a you." Luigi reached into his pocket, pulled out a quarter and handed it to Audrey. As she placed it in the Girls' coin bank, Luigi picked up the cup and took a sip of the lemonade. "Mmm..."

"That's-a pretty good lemonade," Luigi commented. "I'm-a come back tomorrow, okay?"

"Sounds good!" said Audrey.

"You're coming back, too?" Dot asked, a bit surprised. "How kind of you, thank you!"

"Thank you, too. In the mean-a-time, here's a tip." Luigi pulled another quarter out of his pocket and placed it on the table for the Harvey Girls. Then he turned and walked away, his cup of lemonade in his hand. Before he was out of earshot, however, the Girls could hear him tell them, "Bye-bye!"

"So we have two regular customers now," Dot acknowledged.

"Wow! Talk about a booming business!" Lotta said.

"And it looks like it's gonna boom even more!" Audrey had her head turned away from the stand, as though she had seen someone heading to their lemonade stand.

When Dot and Lotta turned their heads to look where Audrey was looking, they saw that Audrey was right. Two people - or rather, creatures - were coming. One of them was a yellow sponge with blue eyes, and the other was a pink starfish wearing green and purple pants. Audrey, Dot and Lotta turned back to the lemonade stand and waited until the sponge and starfish had arrived.

"Excuse me, are you selling lemonade?" the sponge asked.

"Why, yes, we are," Lotta replied.

"It's freshly-made, hand-squeezed lemonade, and it's only 25 cents a cup," Dot finished for her.

"Sounds pretty yummy," the starfish commented with a chuckle.

"Oh, it is," Audrey agreed. "Would you like some?"

"Oh, yes, please!" the sponge replied.

Dot took the pitcher, then pulled two plastic cups out from their pack. She made sure to separate them before she filled one cup halfway, and then the other cup. Then she handed them to the sponge and starfish.

"That'll be fifty cents," said Dot, "since you're buying two glasses."

The sponge removed a quarter from a pocket in his pants, and the starfish did the same. They handed them to Dot, who handed them their glasses of lemonade.

"Thank you very much," said Dot.

"And thank you, too," said the sponge.

Audrey slipped the quarters into the coin bank as she and her friends watched the two sea creatures sipped their beverages. The smiled that appeared on their faces afterward told them they liked it.

"Ah... you're right, this is delicious!" the sponge commented.

"Yeah, it's almost better than water!" the starfish replied, causing Dot to chuckle a bit.

"You know what?" The sponge reached back into his pocket with his free hand, and pulled out a dollar bill. "I think you girls deserve a tip for making such a tasty drink. Here you go."

He handed the dollar to Audrey, who smiled joyfully as she held the dollar in her hands.

"No way! Thank you!" Audrey thanked them.

"Hope you guys come on back soon," said Lotta.

"How couldn't we? Hahahahaha!" The sponge gave a funny-sounding but amusing laugh. He then walked away, the lemonade in his hand. "Bye now!"

"See ya!" the starfish replied as he left as well, following the sponge. Meanwhile, Audrey held the dollar in her hands, letting Dot and Lotta have a look at it as well.

"He gave us a whole dollar, for two glasses of lemonade!"

"Such a generous sponge," Dot replied. "I'd say this dollar would net us thirty-three cents each. We should save it for a rainy day."

"Good idea. Why don't you hold onto it?" Audrey handed the dollar to Dot.

"Thank you for the idea, Audrey." Dot folded the dollar halfway, and then placed it in her pocket.

"Hey, look!" Lotta said as she pointed to someone in the distance. "More customers!"

Audrey and Dot turned to look where Lotta was looking, and they all saw that she was right. A family of five was coming. They consisted of a mother who was a blue cat, a father who was a pink rabbit, and their children: a son who was a blue cat like his mom, a daughter who was a pink rabbit like her dad, and an orange fish who didn't look like either of his parents. Audrey, Dot and Lotta waited until they had arrived at the lemonade stand.

"Hello!" the feline son greeted the Girls.

"Hi there!" Audrey greeted them.

"How may we help you on this lovely day?" Dot wanted to know.

"We'd like to buy a few glasses of your lemonade, please," the mom said.

"I haven't drank anything tasty all day!" the dad mentioned, causing the cat son and the fish to chuckle a bit. Audrey giggled a bit as well.

"Alright, coming right up."

Audrey pulled out five plastic cups, then picked up the pitcher. One by one, she filled the cups halfway, and once she'd finally put down the pitcher, each member of the family took a cup.

"That'll be a dollar and 25 cents," Dot mentioned.

"Alright, then," the mom said. She looked down at her kids. "Gumball, Darwin, Anais, do you have your quarters?" Audrey, Dot and Lotta couldn't tell who of the kids was named what.

Each of the three kids reached into their pockets - including the fish, somehow - and each pulled out a quarter. They placed their coins on the table, while the mom and dad also placed a quarter on the table. Lotta scooped the coins into her hands and placed them in the coin bank while the family took a sip of their lemonades.

"Oh!" The rabbit daughter's eyes widened and sparkled in amazement. "Such a perfect mix of sweet and sour!"

"You know, it is!" the cat son replied.

"Yeah!" the fish agreed.

"Girls, I am impressed," the mom said. "Thank you very much."

"This stuff tastes great!" the dad said.

"I'm glad you enjoyed them!" Dot replied.

Just then, the cat son reached into his pocket and pulled out a dollar. "Hey, Mom? Can I give them a tip?"

"Of course, Gumball," the mom replied, revealing his name as she did so. "They could use the money."

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Gumball chuckled and placed the dollar on the table. Dot took it, folded it up and placed it in her pocket as well.

"Thank you!" Each member of the family said individually; first the mom, then the dad, then the fish, then the daughter, and finally Gumball. Then they walked away from the lemonade stand, everyone still having their glass of lemonade in their hand.

"All we have to do is earn one more dollar bill," Dot told Audrey and Lotta in private, "and then we can each have a dollar to ourselves."

"Cool!" Audrey replied with an excited smile.

"Oh, wouldn't that be nice?" Lotta replied.

Suddenly, Audrey saw someone coming. There were three young ponies approaching the lemonade stand. The first of these ponies was light yellow with a red mane and tail, as well as a pinkish-red bow in her mane; the second pony was an orange Pegasus with a purple mane and tail; and the third pony was a white unicorn with a purple and pink mane and tail. They all approached the lemonade stand and greeted the Harvey Girls, one by one.

"Hi!" said the yellow pony.

"Hey!" said the Pegasus.

"Hi!" said the unicorn.

"Hey there!" Audrey greeted them. She wouldn't mention this to Dot or Lotta, but she thought all three of the fillies looked simply adorable.

"Do ya suppose we could buy some lemonade from you, please?" the yellow pony asked. She had a bit of a Southern accent in her polite young voice. "I prefer apple juice and all, but I'd like something different."

"Yeah, me too," the Pegasus agreed. "I've been drinking nothing but water and milk all week!"

"And I'd like to drink something that isn't tea for once," the unicorn said.

"Well, you girls have come to the right place," Audrey told them with a smile, which made all three of the ponies smile as well. Or was it the fact that she was about to serve them that made them smile?

Either way, Audrey pulled out three plastic cups, picked up the pitcher, and filled each cup halfway with lemonade. Then she told the ponies how much she charged them.

"By the way, all this will cost about 75 cents."

"Good thing we traded enough of our bits for real money, huh, girls?" the Pegasus asked her friends.

The yellow pony and white unicorn nodded in agreement, and then the ponies each pulled out a quarter and placed it on the table for the Harvey Girls. Lotta picked each of the coins up and placed them in the coin bank as Audrey handed the ponies their lemonades. They each took a sip, and then smiled in satisfaction.

"This is some pretty awesome lemonade," the Pegasus said.

"Yep," the yellow pony agreed as the unicorn nodded.

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed them," Dot said as she smiled at them. "If you'd like to come back tomorrow, feel free to do that."

"Sounds like a plan!" said the Pegasus.

When she was finished with her lemonade, she dropped the empty cup in the nearby trash bin next to the lemonade stand. The other two ponies did the same.

"Thank you!" they all said as they walked away from the stand, while the Harvey Girls stayed behind and waved goodbye to them.

“Hey, Dot, how many cups do we have left?” Audrey wanted to know.

Dot checked the packs of cups. “We’ve sold 12 glasses of lemonade so far, so that’s 12 cups gone. Luckily, we can sell 78 more before we run out.”

“Nice.” Audrey smiled. Then she looked over at the pitcher, seeing it was halfway empty. “Let’s make some more lemonade while we wait for more customers.”

“Good idea,” Lotta replied.

So they proceeded onto their sequence of making lemonade again; Audrey cut the lemons, Lotta squeezed them, and then Dot made sure to add just the right amounts of water and sugar.

By the time the pitcher was full again, another customer was approaching. The Harvey Girls quickly and neatly put away most of their lemonade-preparing supplies, until only the pitcher and plastic cups were left. When the customer made it to them, they could see that she was a girl with black hair in pigtails, which were held together by light blue hairbands. She was wearing purple glasses with light blue lenses, as well as a black shirt with white sleeves, a gray skirt, and black shoes.

“Hi!” the girl greeted them politely, causing all three of the Harvey Girls to smile.

“Why, hello there!” Dot greeted them.

“How may we help you on this beautiful day?” Lotta asked politely.

“Well, my name is Tootie,” the cute customer told them as though she wanted to be their friend, “and I was a little thirsty from jump-roping all morning. So I was wondering if I could buy a glass of lemonade.”

“Of course, Tootie,” said Lotta with a smile. She picked up the pitcher, then pulled out a plastic cup and filled it halfway with lemonade. She then handed it to Tootie. “That’ll be 25 cents, please.”

Tootie smiled, reached into her skirt pocket, pulled out a quarter and handed it to Lotta.

“Thank you,” they thanked one another in unison. As Lotta handed the quarter to Audrey, who placed it in the coin bank, Tootie picked up the glass of lemonade and took a sip of it.

Immediately, her eyes widened and began to sparkle. A massive smile appeared on her face as well.

"Well? How is it?" Audrey wanted to know, although she could already tell that Tootie had something incredibly positive to say.

"How is it?! This is amazing!" Tootie said. "I haven't tasted anything this yummy in a long time!"

Audrey, Dot and Lotta all smiled at her comment. Tootie then took a couple more sips of her lemonade, until the cup had been emptied.

"In fact..." Tootie reached into her pocket once again and pulled out another quarter. "May I have another, please?"

"Of course you may," Dot replied with a smile. When Tootie held out her cup, Dot picked up the pitcher and filled her cup with some more lemonade. Tootie responded by handing her her quarter, and then took a sip of her lemonade.

"Oh, my... This is so much better than what I have to drink at school," Tootie mentioned. "I think I'll come back tomorrow."

"You're gonna come back, too?" Lotta asked, a hint of surprise in her tone as well as her facial expression. Audrey and Dot looked like they couldn't believe it, either.

"Yeah!" Tootie nodded. "That's what happens when people like your lemonade. They'll come back tomorrow, and the next day... They could be coming back for days, weeks or even years!"

"By the way, I think that's exactly what I'm gonna do. Thank you, girls!"

Tootie walked away from her lemonade stand, smiling happily as she held her glass of lemonade in her hand. Audrey, Dot and Lotta remained at their lemonade stand, all of them smiling in joy.

"This... this is incredible!" said Dot. "We now have at least three regular customers who will come back tomorrow!"

"I know, this is so awesome!" Audrey commented.

"Yeah. I can't think of anything that could go wrong at this moment," Lotta replied.

Not long after she said that, however, Audrey felt a tickle in her nose. Her eyes widened as her nose twitched about, and her nostrils flared slightly. Both of her friends turned to look at her in curiosity.

"Audrey?" Lotta asked. "Are you alright?"

As she thought about why her friend was like this, Dot's eyes suddenly widened in realization. "Audrey, quick! Turn your head away from the lemonade!"

Audrey did as she was told and turned away from the stand. She shut her eyes as her breath hitched. She was going to sneeze.

"Aaah... Ahhh... Haaaah..." Each time she inhaled, she tilted her neck farther and farther back, her nose still wiggling around. Just as Dot plugged her ears with her forefingers and Lotta placed her hands over her ears, Audrey exploded, shooting her upper body forward. "HAAAAAH-- CHOO!!!"

They were lucky it wasn't that big a sneeze, but it was loud and a bit forceful. It was loud enough to cause Dot and Lotta to wince, and forceful enough to expel a small amount of spray from Audrey's mouth. Audrey sulked for a moment, and then turned back to face her friends, rubbing her nose with her forefinger.

"Bless you, Audrey," said Lotta.

"Indeed. Bless you," Dot replied.

"Thank you..." Audrey continued to rub her nose as she sniffled. "I guess that sneeze came right out of nowhere."

"I'm not sure about that," said Dot. "Perhaps it was from the amount of pollen in the air."

"Besides, it has made you sneeze before," Lotta said. "It's made me and Dot sneeze before, too."

"Yeah, that'd make sense." Audrey finally removed her forefinger from her nose. At least it hadn't started running since she'd sneezed.

Now that Audrey had recovered from her sneeze, she and her friends saw some more customers approaching their lemonade stand. It was another family, but a family of four; a mother, a father, and two children, one boy and one girl. The boy had orange skin and blue hair that covered his eyes; however, his parents and sister all had yellow skin, and the girl had a ponytail in her equally yellow hair.

"Hello there," the mom greeted them.

"Good day to you," the dad added.

"Hello," Lotta greeted them in return. "How can we help you?"

"We'd like to buy a few glasses of lemonade from you, please," the girl said.

"I've never tried it before," the boy mentioned, "so can we have some?"

"Sure!" Audrey said with a smile.

She pulled out four plastic cups, then picked up the pitcher and filled each cup halfway with lemonade. She then held out her hand for some payment.

"Alright, that'll be one dollar," Audrey said.

The mom, the dad, the boy and the ponytailed girl each pulled out a quarter and placed them into Audrey's hand. As she inserted the shiny gray coins into the coin bank, Dot and Lotta watched the family take their lemonades and take a sip. None of them expressed their opinions on their drinks until they had swallowed.

"Mmm, yes, quite impressive," the dad mentioned. He didn't sound the same as Gumball's dad; he sounded more like a gentleman.

"This is lovely," the mom agreed.

The girl breathed a sigh of satisfaction. "There's nothing like freshly-made lemonade to satisfy your thirst and please your taste buds," she commented.

"Yeah, this stuff sure tastes good!" the boy replied with a smile. "Can I have some more, please?"

"Of course you can," Dot said with a nod, "although that'll cost an extra 25 cents."

"Okay." The boy nodded in understanding. The Harvey Girls didn't know if he was unhappy with the idea, but if so, at least he didn't show it or sound like it.

"I'd like some more, too, please," the girl replied. "Even with the amount of sugar it has, lemonade is better for you than other sugary drinks."

"That's true." Dot picked the pitcher back up, and then refilled the boy and girl's glasses of lemonade. "Here you go, kids."

"Thank you very much." The girl reached into her pocket, pulled out a dollar bill and handed it to Dot. Dot was about to open her coin bank so she could give her some change, but before she could, the girl spoke again. "And you may keep the change, too."

"Very well, then." Dot folded up the dollar bill and placed it in her pocket.

"Thank you," the family thanked the Harvey Girls in unison, and then walked away from the stand.

Once they were out of earshot, Dot reached into her pocket once more and pulled out the three dollar bills. They belonged to her and her friends now. She handed one of the dollar bills to Audrey and one to Lotta, while she kept the last remaining dollar to herself.

"It may not be much, but it's certainly better than none," Dot mentioned.

"And the more of these we receive, the more money we'll have!" Audrey said with an excited smile.

"You know what I would buy with a bunch of these?" Lotta asked.

"Bunnies, or bunny food?" Audrey asked, and she and Dot laughed at her joke.

"That, too," Lotta replied, "but I think keeping our lemonade stand alive and running is more important. We should make sure we save all of our dollar bills that we earn, so when we need to buy something important with them, we'll have enough."

"That is very true, Lotta," Dot told her with a smile.

"Maybe that wasn't something I ever thought you'd say, but I sure am glad you said it!" said Audrey.

Each of the Harvey Girls placed their dollar bills in their pockets, and then stayed by the lemonade stand to wait for more customers. As they were waiting, however, the rays of sunlight made it into Dot's eyes, causing a light tickle to form in her nose.

"Ugh..." Dot sniffled lightly, and then brought her hand up to rub her nose. It became clear that it wasn't helping, however; the sunlight was making her need to sneeze. Dot pulled her hand away from her nose as her breath began to hitch.

"Ehh... Aaah..."

Her eyelids lowered, and then fell shut as she tilted her neck back. She reached into her pocket - the one that didn't have her dollar inside - and pulled out a white, cotton handkerchief that she'd brought with her. Just as Audrey and Lotta heard her inhales and turned to look at her in curiosity, Dot tilted her upper body as far back as it could go, accompanied by a final inhale, and then fired a sneeze directly into her handkerchief.

"HAAAAHHH-- TCHYEWWW!!"

The sneeze was forceful enough to cause the edges of her hanky to flutter about, but other than that, no germs were spread. It did cause Audrey and Lotta to wince in surprise, however. As Dot recovered from her sneeze, she sniffled and wiped her nose with her handkerchief.

"Bless you, Dot!" said Lotta.

"Yeah, what she said!" Audrey replied.

"Thank you..." Dot gave another sniffle as she continued to wipe her nose. "It's pretty strange how the sun can make you sneeze."

"It sure is," Audrey replied.

"But at least you kept your sneeze to yourself," Lotta said with a smile of relief.

Dot nodded in agreement, then pulled her handkerchief away from her nose and placed it back in her pocket. After a few minutes of waiting for some more customers, the girls heard a rather squeaky voice.

"Poyo?"

Audrey's eyes widened in surprise when she heard the voice. She and her friends looked around from where they sat, each of them trying to find who had said that word. There didn't seem to be anyone next to the stand, so Lotta took a few steps away from the stand to look in front of it.

There was a short, pink little creature with red shoes and blue eyes. He waved one of his fingerless hands to greet Lotta.

"Hi!"

"Awww..." Lotta said as her eyes twinkled in adoration. This being didn't look familiar at all, but he sure looked cute and innocent. "Who's this little guy?"

Audrey and Dot moved to see who Lotta was talking about, and also fell in love with the pink creature who had stumbled upon their lemonade stand.

"Aww, he's so cute," said Audrey.

"I think this little thing wants to try our lemonade, too," said Dot.

The pink creature nodded to confirm that, so Lotta bent over, picked him up as gently as he could, and then set him on the lemonade stand. He was just far away enough from the pitcher of lemonade to avoid spilling it.

"Would you like a glass of lemonade, little guy?" Lotta asked, and the creature nodded once more. "Gee, I'd love to let you have some of our yummy, sweet and sour lemonade, but we kind of intend on selling it for 25 cents a cup..."

"Poyo!" The pink thing said as he raised his hand. He reached behind his back and pulled out a dollar. "Poyo, poyopoyo!"

"Oh, cool!" said Audrey with a smile. "With one dollar, you can buy four lemonades! Is that what you'd like?"

The pink thing thought about this for a moment, but then shook his head. He placed the dollar on the stand and again said, "Poyo!"

"So you'd just like one lemonade, and you'd like us to keep the change," Dot figured, and then the being nodded to confirm that. "Of course, you little cutie!"

Dot picked up the pitcher while Audrey pulled out a plastic cup and held it for Dot. She filled the cup halfway with lemonade, and then handed it to the pink being. He smiled and then took the cup - but then he turned it sideways toward his mouth and inhaled deeply, causing all of the sweet yellow beverage to fall into his mouth. Then he swallowed and smiled in enjoyment.

"Poyo~!"

"Looks like he likes it!" Audrey said, smiling herself.

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it, little guy," Dot said. "And thank you very much for the dollar." She picked up the dollar bill, folded it up and placed it in her pocket. "But do you think you could tell us your name before you leave?"

"Kirby," the creature said.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Kirby," Lotta replied.

"It sure is!" Audrey said with a smile. "And if you want to come back tomorrow for some more lemonade, well... we're not gonna stop you."

Kirby thought for a moment, then smiled and nodded to let the girls know that he, indeed, would come back tomorrow. Each of the Harvey Girls petted him to thank him, although Audrey tugged his cheek a bit as well, and Lotta gave him a quick, affectionate kiss on his other cheek. Kirby blushed, then hopped off the lemonade stand.

As he walked away, Audrey, Dot and Lotta could clearly hear him telling them, "Bye-bye!"

"Whoever Kirby is, he has to be my favorite customer so far," Audrey commented.

"Indeed," said Dot. "Aside from being cute, he's also such a friendly, innocent life form."

"But where do you think he got the dollar?" Lotta wanted to know.

Instead of an answer, a long pause between Audrey and Dot was the response.

"Let's just say he found it somewhere," Dot finally said. She looked over at the pitcher. "And it looks like that was the last of our lemonade."

"Oh, that's alright. We can always make some more," said Lotta.

"Guys? I don't think we should do that," Audrey said. She was looking up at something in the sky, and she pointed at it. "Look."

Dot and Lotta turned to look where Audrey was looking, and they saw the sun setting into the mountains beyond. The sky was beginning to turn an orange shade, too.

"Oh!" Lotta probably hadn't noticed the sky had been changing color.

"It's starting to get late," said Dot. "I suppose our work day's over."

"Ah, well. At least we still have plenty of sugar and cups left over," Audrey said.

"That's good, but we'll have to bring some more lemons tomorrow morning," said Lotta.

"But before we leave, let's see how much money we've earned altogether," said Dot, "minus all the dollar bills we accumulated, of course."

She pulled out her coin bank, removed the lid and tilted it sideways, so that every quarter that had been inside came sliding or rolling out.

"Twenty-one quarters," said Dot. "That's a dollar and 75 cents for each of us!"

"Cool!" Audrey cheered.

"But what if there are still some quarters left over?" Lotta asked.

"Not to worry. I'll hang onto them for the night, as I'll do for the remaining dollar bill," said Dot. She distributed the quarters equally, so that she, Audrey and Lotta would have the same amount of money. "I'd say we've earned almost ten dollars today."

"Wow!" Lotta said, looking surprised. "If that's how good we did today, imagine how much money we'll make tomorrow..."

"Think of all the ice cream we could afford!" Audrey mentioned, but Lotta didn't reply. She just inhaled.

"Ah... Aaah..."

Dot looked at her, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. Why wasn't Lotta answering? "Lotta?"

"Haaah..." Lotta took a final inhale, and then gave an adorable, squeaky-sounding sneeze. "Tchew!"

Audrey and Dot's eyes widened in surprise as they heard the sneeze, but then they smiled in mild amusement. Lotta then sulked as she rubbed her nose lightly with her hand, while Dot chuckled a bit.

"Bless you, Lotta. Are you feeling alright?"

Lotta nodded once, hand under nose. "I guess it's kinda cold out here..."

"Yeah, that makes sense. In that case, let's clean up so we can return home and warm up."

Audrey and Lotta agreed, then helped her pack up their remaining ingredients. Dot twisted the opening of the cups shut and held it tight with a rubber band before she placed it into her basket, along with some leftover sugar, unopened water bottles and the remaining kitchen supplies. By the time they were done, the sky was minutes away from turning the dark blue shade the night had. All three of the Harvey Girls wished each other a good night and headed on to their respective homes.

The first thing they did when they got there was put away their ingredients and wash their hands, and then they sat down at the tables for dinner. Although they had different meals - Audrey had a bowl of pasta with chicken pieces and parsley bits sprinkled in, Dot had a salad that was made from several assorted vegetables, and Lotta had a bowl of warm, sweet macaroni and cheese - it was clear that they all enjoyed their supper.

Soon the girls were finished eating. They went upstairs to the bathrooms, where they took their baths, brushed their teeth and put on their cozy pajamas. Finally, they went into their bedrooms, stepped into their beds, and each earned a goodnight kiss from one of their parents; Lotta's mother kissed her on the cheek, Dot's father kissed her on the forehead, and Audrey's mom kissed her on the lips. And after the lights had been shut off, all three of the Harvey Girls drifted off to sleep. From that point until the morning came, they could hear the crickets chirping outside.

The first day that the Harvey Girls had operated their lemonade stand had been quite the success. But they couldn't help but wonder how they would do the next morning. One thing was for sure, though; they were all in for another busy work day.


	2. Chapter 2

Minutes passed, a great many minutes. Finally the sun began to rise into view, changing the color of the sky from dark blue to a much lighter shade. The stars faded out of sight, just as slowly as the sun.

It was the beginning of another beautiful day, and as they had been the night before, the Harvey Girls were still sleeping peacefully in their beds. As soon as their alarm clocks reached seven, however, they emitted their loud noises, startling all three of them awake. They reached over to hit the snooze buttons and stop the noises, and then sat up in their beds. Audrey yawned into her hand, Dot stretched her arms over her head, and Lotta rubbed her eyes gently with her fists. Then they all stepped out of bed and began to get ready for the day.

They brought their clean clothes into their bathrooms, changed out of their pajamas, and took a warm bath. Each of them feeling warmed up and squeaky clean, dried themselves off, put on their favorite clothes, and brushed their teeth. Any unpleasant aromas that had found their way into their mouths were washed away by the sweet, fresh scent of cool mint toothpaste.

Then they brushed their hair, smoothing out every tangle they could spot until they got them exactly the way they wanted them to look. Now they were neat and tidy, but they had to fill their stomachs before they were ready to get the day started. They headed out of the bathrooms and went down the stairs into the kitchens, where they all made and ate their breakfasts. This morning, Audrey had some marshmallow cereal with chocolate milk, while Dot had some buttered toast with a freshly picked orange, and Lotta helped herself to a chocolate chip muffin.

Finally, Audrey, Dot and Lotta's morning routines were complete. Before they wished their parents goodbye and left their houses, however, they each took a basket and filled it with the supplies they needed for their lemonade stand. Some fresh lemons went in, followed by a few things of sugar and cold water; not to mention the plastic cups that they would be served in.

By the time Audrey had gotten to the stand on the side of the sidewalk, Dot and Lotta were already there with their baskets. She smiled at them and placed her own basket on the table as she greeted them with a smile.

"Hey, guys!" Audrey said.

"Good morning, Audrey!" Dot and Lotta replied in unison.

"You guys ready for another day of selling our lemonade?" Audrey asked, and both of her friends nodded.

"We certainly are, Audrey," said Dot. "And since some of our customers from yesterday told us they would come back, I have a feeling we'll be making even more money."

"Let's start making as much as we can," Lotta replied. "As much lemonade as we can, I mean."

With that, she, Audrey and Dot took out everything they'd brought in their baskets, and they got to work. Audrey cut up the lemons, Lotta squeezed the juice out of them with the help of the squeezer, and Dot performed careful measurements as to how much sugar and water needed to be in each portion of lemonade. The cycle repeated, over and over, until the pitcher had been filled to the top. Then the girls prepared their packs of plastic cups for when a customer asked for a serving of their drink.

And just as they finished, two men came to their stand. All three of the Harvey Girls smiled, as they could tell who they were: Mario and Luigi from yesterday.

"Hey, girlies!" Mario greeted them.

"Well, hello, Mario and Luigi!" Audrey replied.

"It's so good to see you two again on such short notice," Dot mentioned.

"May we interest you in another serving of our delicious lemonade?" Lotta wanted to know.

"Oh, yes, please," Luigi replied with a nod.

"Oh, yeah!" Mario agreed.

Lotta pulled out two plastic cups, then picked up the pitcher and filled each cup halfway with lemonade. Then she put it down, picked up the cups and offered them to Mario and Luigi.

"That'll be fifty cents, please."

The two plumbers reached into their pockets, each pulled out a quarter and placed it on the table. Then they accepted their lemonade and took a couple of sips.

"Mmm..." Mario said as he smiled. "This is-a delicious..."

"Oh, yeah," agreed Luigi.

"I'm glad you like it, guys," Lotta said.

"Yeah, it's our own special recipe," said Audrey. "Though it's not really that special; just lemon juice, sugar and water..."

"Maybe not, but it's-a so good!" Luigi commented.

After he and Mario had finished their lemonade, they sighed with relief.

"We're gonna have to come-a back later," Mario said. "We got a princess to save-a."

"But thanks-a for the lemonade, girlies!" said Luigi.

"No problem," Audrey replied with a smile.

"But you can call us the Harvey Girls," Dot pointed out. "That's what we call ourselves."

"Okey-dokey." Mario nodded in understanding, and then he and Luigi walked away from the stand - but not without saying goodbye to the Harvey Girls.

"Bye-bye!"

The girls stayed where they were, waving goodbye to them in return. Audrey looked down at the quarters on the table, then smiled as she picked them up and dropped them into the Harvey Girls' coin bank.

"I'm not surprised they have to go and rescue someone," said Audrey. "Because would they really be Mario and Luigi if they didn't?" She chuckled a bit, and Lotta joined in.

"That's true," Dot replied. Then she saw someone else making his way toward the lemonade stand. This customer didn't look like anyone she recognized, however, and neither did whoever it was he was walking with. "Hmm, who's this?"

"I'm not sure. He sure doesn't look like he was here yesterday," Audrey stated. "And who's that with him?"

Dot gave her a quick "Shh" to quiet her. She didn't want the customers to think they were being rude. Soon they arrived at the lemonade stand. The first customer was a creature that had a white head with large red dots, and he wore a blue vest and brown shoes. The other customer, on the other hand, was a female creature that had a pink head with large white dots, as well as pink pigtails that matched her head, and she wore a red vest with brown shoes.

"Hello there," Dot greeted them.

"Hi!" the male customer replied in a rather high-pitched voice. "I'm Toad, and this is Toadette." He gestured to the female customer.

"Well, it's nice to meet you," Dot replied. "How may we help you?"

"I'd like a glass of lemonade, please," Toadette stated.

"Me, too!" Toad agreed.

"Alrighty, then!" Audrey said with a nod.

She pulled out two plastic cups, then picked up the pitcher and poured it into the cups. The first cup was filled halfway, then the second cup, before she put the pitcher back down.

"That'll be fifty cents," Audrey told her customers. "Altogether, I mean."

Toad and Toadette each reached into the pockets of their vests and pulled out a quarter. They handed them to Audrey, then each took a cup of lemonade and took a sip.

"Oh, my!" Toadette's eyes sparkled as soon as she'd pulled her lips away from the edge of her cup. "It's such a magical flavor!"

"Who would've thought this would taste so good?" Toad asked in agreement.

"I'm glad you two enjoy it," said Lotta.

"Enjoy it? I love it!" said Toadette. "I've got to get the Rainbow Toadettes to try this!"

"Rainbow Toadettes?" Audrey raised an eyebrow in curiosity and slight confusion. Who was it that Toadette was talking about?

Toad leaned over to the Harvey Girls and whispered to them, "She's part of a rainbow-colored troop of female Toads." Then he stepped out of the way.

"Okay, but..." Audrey didn't get to finish her sentence.

Now that she had finished her lemonade, Toadette pulled out a whistle, took a deep breath and blew into it as hard as she could. The shrill sound echoed throughout the area, and by the time it had finished, a group of seven Toadettes had arrived in the area. They looked just like Toadette, but their heads (and thus, their "pigtails") were pastel shades of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. They all wore vests that were similar in color to the one the original Toadette wore, however.

"Oh, my goodness..." Lotta said to herself in surprise. She could see that Audrey and Dot couldn't believe their eyes, either.

"Well, might as well offer them," Audrey said to herself. She pulled out seven cups and lay them out on the table, then picked up her pitcher. "Which one of you would like some lemonade?"

"Me!" All of the rainbow-colored Toadettes replied in unison.

Audrey smiled and filled each one of the cups halfway with lemonade. Then she put down the pitcher as the Rainbow Toadettes formed a single file line.

"That'll be 25 cents each," said Audrey.

The red Toadette pulled out a quarter and gave it to Audrey for her cup of lemonade. Then she moved as the orange Toadette gave her a quarter and took her cup of lemonade, too. The yellow, green and blue Toadettes followed suit, and so did the indigo and violet Toadettes. Now that all of the Toadettes had gotten their lemonade, they began to drink.

Audrey, Dot and Lotta could hear them making all sorts of comments, such as "Oh, my goodness!", "This is delicious!", "So yummy!", "What a cool flavor!", "I love this!" and other things regarding how good their beverages tasted. No matter what they said, however, they caused all three of the Harvey Girls to smile. What mattered was that they were impressed.

Finally all seven of the Toadettes said together, "We love your lemonade!"

"Well, thanks, girls!" Audrey replied. "And if you'd like, you can leave us a tip."

As if to say that she didn't need to ask twice, all seven of the rainbow-colored mushroom females, as well as the original pink Toadette, each pulled out a dollar and handed it to her.

"Thank you very much!" said the Rainbow Toadettes.

Then they all walked away, with Toad and Toadette following them and waving goodbye to the Harvey Girls. Audrey, Dot and Lotta smiled and waved goodbye in return. When they were out of earshot, Audrey sorted through the bundle of dollar bills their most recent customers had paid her.

"Eight dollars?!" Audrey sounded like she couldn't believe it. "Now that is awesome!"

"Indeed," Dot replied with a nod. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the dollar bill that she'd saved yesterday. "And with this extra dollar bill and all of these extra dollars, that should mean we each have three dollars!"

"Goody!" Lotta said in joy.

All three of the Harvey Girls distributed their dollars among one another. As Dot had confirmed, Audrey received three dollars, and so had Dot herself and Lotta. With the bills folded up and placed safely in their pockets, the Girls shared a high-five with one another.

"You think THOSE girls are gonna come back?" Audrey wanted to know. "Because if they do, we'll be rolling in quarters by the end of the week!"

"Even if they're not, it's best to appreciate the fact that they decided to visit us," Dot replied.

"Man! I'm so happy, I could just..." Audrey suddenly lowered her eyelids as her nose twitched. "...just..." She didn't get to finish her sentence. She was about to sneeze, so she turned around so she wouldn't spray the lemonade, let alone any of her friends. Finally, her breath hitched.

"Aaah... Haaaah... HAAAAAH-TCHOOOOOO!!!"

It was quite an audible sneeze, and caused Dot and Lotta to plug their ears in surprise. On the plus side, Audrey's nose didn't start running, even though a small amount of spray came firing out of her mouth. Audrey turned back to her friends, sniffling as she rubbed her nose with her forefinger.

"Gesundheit, Audrey," said Dot.

"Yeah. Gesundheit," Lotta replied, not sure if she was saying it right.

"Thanks, guys..." Audrey continued to rub her nose. "Sorry. I guess I got so happy, my nose decided I should sneeze for some reason..."

She pulled her forefinger away from her nose and rubbed the back of her head with her hand. Dot and Lotta chuckled a bit.

"Well, there are a variety of different ways to express your happiness," Dot mentioned. "I've heard of crying when you're happy, but sneezing? ...Not that I mind, of course."

Just then, someone in the distance caught her eye.

"Hey, look! Another customer is coming. Let's make some more lemonade before they arrive."

Audrey and Lotta nodded in agreement and quickly prepared another serving of lemonade. That being said, the customer didn't arrive until the pitcher had been completely full again.

"Hello." The customer was a brown, blue-eyed bear that wore a blue backpack.

Audrey smiled. "Well, hello there! How can we help you?"

"We'd like to buy some lemonade, please," the bear replied.

Audrey raised an eyebrow. It looked like the bear was the only one ordering. "Okay, but who's we?"

The flap on the backpack opened, and from it emerged the head and neck of an orange, green-eyed bird. Audrey, Dot and Lotta were a bit surprised to see that the bear had been carrying a bird in his backpack, but they weren't going to comment.

"I want some lemonade, too," the bird mentioned.

"Oh, of course!" Audrey chuckled a bit. "Coming right up."

Lotta pulled out two plastic cups and handed them to Audrey. She picked up her pitcher and poured it into the cups, filling each one of them halfway with lemonade.

"That'll be fifty cents," Audrey said.

The bear smiled. "Thank you very much."

He reached into the pocket of his shorts and pulled out two quarters, which he handed to Audrey. He took one of the glasses of lemonade and handed it to the observing bird in his backpack, then took the other cup for himself. The two of them took a sip, while Dot noticed that the bird somehow managed to hold the cup with both of her wings.

"I wonder how she does that..." Dot muttered underneath her breath. Then she asked aloud, "How is it?"

The bear pulled his cup away from his mouth and sighed in contentment. "This is delicious!"

The bird briefly stopped drinking her lemonade to respond. "Even without honey?"

"Even without honey," the bear said with a nod.

"You know what? It is," the bird agreed. She took a few more sips until her cup had been emptied.

Lotta smiled. "Well, I'm glad you guys like it. If you ever decide you'd like some more, feel free to come on back."

"Thank you, I'm sure we will," the bear replied. "I'm Banjo, by the way, and the bird with me is named Kazooie."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Banjo," Dot replied.

The bear called Banjo then turned and walked away. "See you girls later!"

Audrey, Dot and Lotta all waved goodbye to him as they watched him leave. Audrey then picked up the two quarters that he had given them, then slipped them into the coin bank.

"Wouldn't it be cool if every bear was that nice?" Audrey asked her friends.

"It certainly would be," Dot replied. "We wouldn't have to worry about being attacked if that were the case."

"If I was that bear's friend, I'd give him all the honey he could ever want," Lotta mentioned, "that is, if I had all the honey he could ever want."

Audrey and Dot chuckled at her side comment. Not too long afterward, Audrey saw a couple more customers making their way to their lemonade stand. It looked like there were two boys; one was wearing a red baseball cap, and the other one had blond hair. Audrey smiled as her friends patiently waited for the boys to get close enough to them.

"Why, hello there, boys," Dot greeted them.

"Hi," the two greeted her.

"How can we help you on this lovely day?" Lotta wanted to know.

"Are you selling lemonade?" the boy with the baseball cap asked.

"Yes, we are," Lotta replied.

"That's what I thought." The boy chuckled.

"Well, lucky for you, you two can each enjoy a cup of lemonade for just 25 cents," Dot mentioned. "Would you like some?"

"Yes, please." The blond boy reached into the pocket on the left side of his pants, then the pocket on the right side. "Hmm... I don't have any money."

"It's alright, Lucas," the other boy said, revealing the name of his friend. "I'll pay for your lemonade as well as mine."

The blond boy called Lucas smiled and thanked him, revealing the boy in the baseball cap's name in return. "Thanks, Ness."

Dot pulled out two plastic cups, picked up the pitcher and poured it into each cup, filling them halfway with lemonade. As she put down the pitcher afterward, she let Audrey pick up the cups and offer them to Ness and Lucas. Ness placed a couple of quarters upon the table and took his cup while Lucas took his.

Lucas was the first to take a sip, and his eyes sparkled in amazement. "This tastes like... happiness...!"

Ness took a sip as well, then smiled. "You know, it does!" He turned to the Harvey Girls and stated, "This lemonade is really good."

"Thanks!" Audrey replied, "although I always thought happiness tasted like cookies and cream ice cream."

Everyone laughed at her comment, including Ness and Lucas.

"Well, you're not wrong," Lucas said.

"That being said, I think you girls deserve a little something." Ness reached into his pocket and pulled out a dollar bill. He placed it on the table for the girls. "Here."

"Thank you very much!" Dot replied. "And if you boys would ever like to come back, you're welcome to."

"I think we will," Ness replied.

"Yeah, me too," Lucas agreed. "Thank you."

Then the two of them walked away from the lemonade stand, with the Harvey Girls waving goodbye to them. When they were out of sight, Dot folded up the dollar bill and placed it in her pocket. Just as they had finished doing that, however, the three girls heard a little sound.

"Pika?"

It sounded like a small animal had wandered over to the lemonade stand. Not long afterward, they heard another sound, but this one sounded more familiar.

"Poyo?"

The Harvey Girls looked around for where the sounds were coming from. Audrey checked one side of the stand, Dot checked the other, and Lotta checked the front. Of the three, however, Lotta was able to find who had been vocalizing.

Kirby from yesterday had returned, and this time, he'd brought a guest. It was a little yellow creature with black ear tips and red cheeks, as well as a tail that was shaped like a lightning bolt.

"Oh, hi, Kirby!" Lotta greeted the pink being first, who responded with a smile and a wave. "Who's this you've brought with you?"

The yellow creature looked up at Lotta and nodded its head to greet her, while saying, "Pikachu."

"Pikachu, huh? I don't think I've heard that name before," said Lotta.

Audrey and Dot looked at who she was talking to, and both of them smiled. Kirby had, indeed, come back, and they could recognize who he'd brought with him.

"Hey, Lotta?" Audrey asked. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Kirby's brought a Pikachu!"

"I wonder if they'd like a cup of lemonade," Dot replied.

Kirby and Pikachu both heard her and nodded in agreement. Audrey could see two quarters in Pikachu's hand, along with one in Kirby's hand. She wanted to wonder where they'd found them, but what really mattered was that they at least had enough money.

Audrey picked up the pitcher while Dot pulled out a couple of plastic cups and handed them to her. Audrey filled each one of them halfway with lemonade, humming to herself as she did so. She then picked up the cups just as Kirby and Pikachu hopped onto the table - just to leave their quarters on top of them.

Audrey smiled and handed them their lemonades. "Here you go, guys."

The pink and yellow creatures gratefully took a drink of their lemonades, and then their eyes sparkled.

"Pii-kaaaa!" Pikachu said in astonishment.

"Looks like they like it, guys!" Lotta said to her friends.

"Yeah, I can tell." Audrey picked up the three quarters and placed them into the girls' coin bank.

"And thank you for the tip, Pikachu." Dot petted the top of Pikachu's head as gently as she could, causing him to smile even more.

"Pika," Pikachu replied. Even if he couldn't speak English like the Harvey Girls and most of their customers could, Dot knew what it was he meant to say.

"Feel free to come on back whenever you'd like," Lotta replied. "Just make sure you have enough money, okay?"

Pikachu nodded in understanding. When he and Kirby had finished their lemonades, they happily hopped off the table and walked away. Audrey, Dot and Lotta stayed at their stand, waving goodbye to them. When they were out of earshot, they noticed they were a bit low on lemonade.

Not to worry. They had plenty of ingredients left to make more, and so they did. Audrey cut the lemons, as she usually did, but Dot squeezed them afterward, while Lotta did the measurements on how much water and sugar should go in each bit of lemon juice. Dot helped her out so she could get it just right.

Finally the pitcher was full again. The timing had been perfect, too; three women were approaching the lemonade stand. As they got closer to the stand, Dot smelled something... fragrant. One of the women must have been wearing perfume. It smelled lovely and all, but it was pretty strong; in fact, it tickled Dot's nose, causing it to twitch.

"Heh... Haaah..." Dot lowered her eyelids as she inhaled. She was going to sneeze. With Audrey and Lotta looking at her in curiosity, Dot pulled out her handkerchief and held it in front of her nose. "HAAAAHHHH..." A climactic inhale later, followed by a short delay, Dot exploded.

"TCHYEWWW!!"

The edges of her handkerchief fluttered about as Dot sneezed into it, with Audrey, Lotta and the three new customers wincing in surprise. Finally Dot lost her breath and wiped her nose with her hanky, sniffling here and there.

"Oh, my..." the woman in the lavender dress said; she also wore a silk headdress underneath her blonde hair, while the other two women wore a yellow dress and a cyan dress, respectively. "Bless you, little girl."

"Indeed," replied the woman in the cyan gown; she was wearing a silver crown.

"You alright?" the woman in the yellow dress asked; she also had a crown, but hers was yellow, if not golden.

"Yes, excuse me." Dot looked sheepishly at the women, and then placed her handkerchief back in her pocket. At least none of them were mad. "How may we help you?"

"We'd each like a glass of lemonade, please," said the woman in the lavender dress.

"But of course." Dot turned to Lotta, and asked her a question that caused a smile to appear on her face. "Lotta, would you like to do the honors?"

Lotta nodded; she was more than happy to. She pulled out three plastic cups, then picked up the pitcher and filled each of them halfway with lemonade. Then she handed them to the women, whom she assumed were princesses.

"That'll be 75 cents altogether," said Lotta.

"Excellent," said the woman with the headdress. "But shall we try them before we pay?"

Lotta nodded in agreement, and then each of the women picked up their cups of lemonade and took a sip. All three of them had smiles on their faces, letting the Harvey Girls know that they were impressed.

"Ah, this tastes gnarly," the woman in the yellow dress said.

"I think it's wonderful myself," said the woman in the cyan dress, and the woman with the lavender dress nodded in agreement.

After a minute, the women were finished with their lemonades. Dot reminded them of the price, in case they had forgotten.

"As Lotta said, that'll be a total of 75 cents," said Dot.

The woman with the headdress pulled out a gem, thinking for a moment. "Hmm, all I have are these Rupees..."

The woman with the yellow dress pulled out a coin, but it didn't look like a quarter. "And all I have are these coins."

The woman with the cyan dress, however, smiled and pulled out a wand. "Allow me."

The other two women placed their gem and coin upon the table, while the woman with the cyan dress pulled out an identical coin and placed it there, too. Then she waved her wand a little, causing some sparkles to appear. In less than a second, the coins and gem had turned into a small pile of twelve quarters. The Harvey Girls were amazed at her magic trick.

"Okay, what did you just do?" Audrey asked, not expecting an answer. "Because that was awesome."

"All of this is yours, my darlings," said the woman in the cyan dress, "because your lemonade is of such high quality."

"In fact, I'm sure we'll all return as soon as we can," the woman in the headdress agreed.

Dot smiled and began to place each quarter in the Harvey Girls' coin bank. "Thank you very much. See you again."

The three princesses, whoever they were, walked away from the lemonade stand, while Audrey, Dot and Lotta waved goodbye to them.

"Those had to have been the most charitable women I've ever seen," Dot mentioned. "I wonder if they might be princesses..."

"I was thinking the same thing," Lotta replied.

"At least that'd explain why they gave us so much change," Audrey said.

Dot and Lotta looked at her. They were probably thinking that that wasn't a nice way to refer to such polite women, so Audrey decided not to say anything else. Once every quarter had been placed in the coin bank, the Harvey Girls saw another customer coming. It was Tootie, and they greeted her when she got close enough to the lemonade stand.

"Hi, Tootie!" Audrey greeted her first, then Dot, and finally Lotta.

"Hi!" Tootie replied with a smile. "I'd like two glasses of lemonade, please."

"No problem!" Audrey replied.

She pulled out two plastic cups, picked up the pitcher and filled each one of them halfway with lemonade. Then she put down the pitcher and handed them to Tootie.

"That'll be fifty cents," said Audrey.

Tootie reached into her pocket, pulled out two quarters and placed them on the table. Then she took her cups of lemonade with a smile on her face.

"Thank you!" said Tootie as Audrey placed the quarters in her coin bank. "I'm gonna share the extra lemonade with one of my friends, by the way."

Audrey smiled. "Sounds like a great idea, Tootie. The more people who find out about our lemonade stand, the better."

Tootie nodded in agreement and then walked away from the lemonade stand, with all three of the Harvey Girls waving goodbye to her. They were wondering who it was she was going to share her lemonade with, but that wasn't really the point.

Shortly after that, another group of customers arrived at the lemonade stand. They consisted of a light blue moose with one right-side-up antler and one upside-down antler, a yellow rabbit, a purple beaver and a pink chipmunk with a red bow on her head.

"Hello," the moose greeted the Harvey Girls. "I'm Lumpy."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Lumpy," Dot responded with a smile.

"May I interest you four in some delicious lemonade?" Lotta wanted to know.

The moose called Lumpy thought for a moment, then looked down at his friends. They all nodded in agreement, and then Lumpy turned back to the girls and nodded as well.

"Yes, please."

"Coming right up," Lotta responded with a smile.

She took out four plastic cups, then picked up the pitcher and filled each cup halfway with lemonade. Then she put it down and tried to figure out how much the gang owed them.

"That'll be, um..." Lotta counted a bit on her fingers. "One dollar."

The rabbit, chipmunk and beaver each pulled out a quarter and placed it on the table. When Lumpy reached into his pockets, however, he couldn't find any quarters. He couldn't find any dollars or any other coins, either. Lumpy sulked, looking a bit sad.

"I don't have any money..."

But the chipmunk walked up to him and placed her hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Lumpy. I'll pay for your lemonade." To prove this, she pulled out another quarter that she had with her and placed it on the table.

Lumpy smiled appreciatively when she did this. "Thank you."

Then all of the animals each took a cup of lemonade and took a drink of them. Then they all smiled.

"This lemonade is really good!" the rabbit commented.

"Yeah, it tastes even better than the lemonade me and my friend have made at our own lemonade stand!" the chipmunk agreed. The Harvey Girls didn't know who she was talking about, but they hadn't tried her lemonade yet, so they decided to keep it to themselves.

"I don't know about you guys," the beaver mentioned, "but I think we should come back soon."

"Yeah." Lumpy nodded in agreement before he turned to Audrey, Dot and Lotta. "You girls make some great lemonade."

Lotta smiled and thanked him so her friends wouldn't have to. "Thank you very much. And I hope you guys do come back soon."

The animals soon walked away from the lemonade stand, with the girls waving goodbye to them. Once they were out of sight, Audrey placed all four of the quarters that Lumpy and his friends had left into the coin bank.

"I don't know about you girls," Lotta said, "but I think we're gonna have so many quarters, we'll have to buy a couple more coin banks just to hold them all."

"Or we could buy some of those snacks in those plastic containers," Audrey said, "so we can use them to store our earnings once we're done eating!"

"Those both sound like good ideas," Dot stated, "but let's save them for Saturday. That'll be our day off; and besides, it's Tuesday."

Just then, Audrey noticed a boy with white hair approaching the lemonade stand. She and her friends quickly stopped talking before he got close enough.

"Excuse me?" the boy asked.

"Hey there!" Audrey greeted him. "How can we help you?"

"We'd like to buy some lemonade, please," said the boy.

"Of course you can," Audrey said with a smile. "But who's we?"

The boy pointed behind him, and the Harvey Girls looked up. Then their eyes widened and pupils shrunk in surprise. Behind the boy were ten females; five teens or preteens, four elementary schoolers and a baby.

"I promised my sisters I'd buy some lemonade for them," the boy mentioned, "and for myself, too. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

Audrey smiled once more. "Of course not! We'll get your drinks ready as soon as we can."

The boy smiled, too. "Thanks!"

He and his sisters formed a straight, single-file line in front of the lemonade stand. For each of them, Audrey, Dot and Lotta took turns pulling out a cup, filling it halfway with lemonade from their pitcher and handing it to the customer who had asked for it. They responded with a smile and handed them a quarter - even the baby, who then had her brother pour her lemonade into an empty milk bottle for her to drink from. By the time everyone had gotten their lemonade, the Harvey Girls had earned a total of eleven quarters.

"Looks like we're definitely gonna need an extra piggy bank, guys!" Audrey mentioned to Dot and Lotta.

As she was dropping each quarter into the coin bank, she and her friends could hear the girls and boy commenting over how delicious the lemonade was. The second youngest girl was vocally making a detailed comparison between what she was drinking now and the past lemonades she'd had over the past year, but it was kind of inaudible over what everyone else was saying.

"Your lemonade is pretty awesome," the boy mentioned to the Harvey Girls after he'd finished his lemonade. "Thanks!"

"Oh, you're welcome," said Lotta. "Feel free to come on back soon."

After a while, the boy's sisters had finished their lemonades as well. They said their thank yous as well, and walked away from the lemonade stand. Audrey, Dot and Lotta smiled as they waved goodbye to them until they were out of earshot.

"Hmm..." Dot looked over at the pitcher, which had been completely emptied after the large group of customers had been served. "It looks like we're out of lemonade."

"And it looks like our workday is over, too."

Dot looked up at the sky, which had begun to turn an orange shade. Audrey and Lotta looked up as well, realizing that she was right. The sun was beginning to set into the mountains beyond.

"Before we leave, let's see how much money we've earned altogether," said Dot, "minus all the dollar bills, of course."

Audrey nodded in agreement, removed the lid from the coin bank and tilted it sideways. Each quarter came rolling or sliding out, and then the girls began to count all of the coins.

"Forty... seven... quarters!" Audrey said in joy. "That's almost twelve dollars!"

"And that means we each get to take home fifteen of these. That's three dollars and seventy five cents!" said Dot.

"Oh, my goodness!" Lotta squealed.

And so they distributed the quarters equally. Indeed, Audrey got to take home fifteen, as did Dot and Lotta. There were two remaining, however, so Dot kept them in the coin bank and handed that same bank to Audrey.

"Audrey, you can be in charge of keeping the left over quarters safe until tomorrow," said Dot. "But you have to remember to bring it back in the morning; otherwise, we won't have anywhere to put our earnings."

"Piece of cake." Audrey slid the coin bank into her basket.

Dot was about to mention how much money they'd made overall, but before she could, she heard two familiar voices tell her, "Hey, Harvey Girls!"

"Hm?" Dot turned around, along with Audrey and Lotta. Mario and Luigi had returned to the stand, and this time, Mario was holding the hand of a lovely princess wearing a pink dress.

"Oh, hey, Mario and Luigi!" Audrey greeted them. "You're just in time, we were about to close down for the night."

"Well, I told you we'd be back," Mario said in a bit of a joking voice. Then he introduced the princess to the Harvey Girls. "We'd like you to meet Princess Peach. We saved her not too long ago." He then turned to the Princess called Peach and introduced her to the Girls as well. "Peach, these are the Harvey Girls: Audrey, Dot and Lotta."

"It's wonderful to meet you," Peach replied.

"It's nice to meet you, too," Lotta replied. "Would you like some lemonade?"

"Oh, certainly," said Peach with a polite nod.

"I was thinking we needed a little reward for rescuing her again, anyway," Luigi commented.

So Audrey, Dot and Lotta fixed up one last portion of lemonade, filling three plastic cups halfway with the delicious beverage. In unison they handed them to the plumbers and the princess.

"That'll be a total of 75 cents," Dot stated.

Mario, Luigi and Peach all smiled, handed each of them a quarter and accepted their lemonade.

"Oh!" Peach's eyes sparkled in amazement. "Such a perfect mix of sweet and sour flavors!"

"Yeah, it is pretty yummy," Mario said in agreement.

"Thank you so much for the divine lemonade, Harvey Girls," Peach said. "If I don't get captured again tomorrow, I'll certainly return for some more."

"Oh! Goody-goody!" Lotta replied happily.

Before the Girls knew it, Mario, Luigi and Peach had left. Audrey, Dot and Lotta waved goodbye to them until they were out of earshot, and then they each placed one of the quarters into their pockets.

"Thanks to the final purchase of the night," said Dot, "we actually get to bring home a total of sixteen quarters. That's four dollars!"

"That's awesome!" Audrey cheered. "How much more popular could our lemonade stand get? Maybe everybody in the WORLD will want our lemonade!"

"And I have a feeling that someday, that's gonna be true," Lotta replied. "But now that the day's over, let's clean up and go home."

Audrey and Dot agreed, then helped her pack up their remaining ingredients. Dot twisted the opening of the cups shut and held it tight with a rubber band before she placed it into her basket, along with some leftover sugar, unopened water bottles and the remaining kitchen supplies. By the time they were done, the sky was minutes away from turning the dark blue shade the night had. All three of the Harvey Girls wished each other a good night and headed on to their respective homes.

The first thing they did when they got there was put away their ingredients and wash their hands, and then they sat down at the tables for dinner. Although they had different meals - Audrey had some chicken soup, Dot had some potato salad, and Lotta had some tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich - it was clear that they all enjoyed their supper.

Soon the girls were finished eating. They went upstairs to the bathrooms, where they took their baths, brushed their teeth and put on their cozy pajamas. Finally, they went into their bedrooms, stepped into their beds, and each earned a goodnight kiss from one of their parents; Lotta's father kissed her on the forehead, Dot's father kissed her on the cheek, and Audrey's mom kissed her on the lips. And after the lights had been shut off, all three of the Harvey Girls drifted off to sleep. From that point until the morning came, they could hear the crickets chirping outside.

Audrey was right when she said their business was going to keep growing, what with the steadily larger number of customers that would arrive. For all they knew, they would be three wealthy little girls by the time Saturday arrived.


	3. Chapter 3

Minutes passed, a great many minutes. Finally the sun began to rise into view, changing the color of the sky from dark blue to a much lighter shade. The stars faded out of sight, just as slowly as the sun.

Another beautiful day had begun, and as they had been the night before, the Harvey Girls were still sleeping peacefully in their beds. But as soon as their alarm clocks reached seven, they emitted their loud noises, startling all three of them awake. They reached over to hit the snooze buttons and stop the noises, and then sat up in their beds. Audrey rubbed her eyes gently with her fists, Dot yawned into her hand, and Lotta stretched her arms over her head. Then they all stepped out of bed and began to get ready for the day.

They brought their clean clothes into their bathrooms, changed out of their pajamas, and took a warm bath. Each of them feeling warmed up and squeaky clean, dried themselves off, put on their favorite clothes, and brushed their teeth. Any unpleasant aromas or sensations that had found their way into their mouths were washed away by the fresh scent of mint toothpaste.

Then they brushed their hair, smoothing out every tangle they could spot until they got them exactly the way they wanted them to look. Now they were neat and tidy, but they had to fill their stomachs before they were ready to get the day started. They headed out of the bathrooms and went down the stairs into the kitchens, where they all made and ate their breakfasts. This morning, Audrey had some peanut butter toast, while Dot had some plain cereal with fresh milk, and Lotta had a bowl of marshmallow cereal.

Finally, Audrey, Dot and Lotta's morning routines were complete. Before they wished their parents goodbye and left their houses, however, they each took a basket and filled it with the supplies they needed for their lemonade stand. Some fresh lemons went in, followed by a few things of sugar and cold water; not to mention the plastic cups that they would be served in.

By the time Lotta had gotten to the stand on the side of the sidewalk, Audrey and Dot were already there with their baskets, and the former had brought their coin bank back as well. She smiled at them and placed her own basket on the table as she greeted them with a smile.

"Good morning, guys!" Lotta said.

"Hey, Lotta!" Audrey replied.

"Good morning, Lotta!" said Dot.

"I can't wait to sell some more lemonade and earn some more quarters today," Lotta stated.

"Me, neither," Audrey agreed. "Let's get to it!"

With that, she, Dot and Lotta took out everything they'd brought in their baskets, and they got to work making their lemonade. Audrey cut up the lemons, Lotta squeezed the juice out of them with the help of the squeezer, and Dot performed careful measurements as to how much sugar and water needed to be in each portion of lemonade. The cycle repeated, over and over, until the pitcher had been filled to the top. Then the girls prepared their packs of plastic cups for when a customer asked for a serving of their drink.

And they finished at a perfect time. Three familiar customers - as well as one who wasn't so familiar to the Harvey Girls - were approaching the lemonade stand. Audrey, Dot and Lotta smiled, recognizing the customers as Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach from yesterday.

"Hello, Harvey Girls!" Mario greeted them.

"Hey, guys! And hey, Peach!" Audrey replied.

"How are you on this lovely day?" Peach wanted to know.

"We're doing alright," replied Lotta.

"That's-a pretty good," said Luigi. "We'd each like a glass-a lemonade, please."

"Of course, Luigi," said Dot.

Audrey pulled out three plastic cups, while Dot picked up the pitcher and filled each of the cups halfway with lemonade. Then she put the pitcher down, picked up one of the cups and handed it to Luigi. Audrey and Lotta, meanwhile, handed the other two cups to Mario and Peach.

"That'll be seventy-five cents," Audrey told them.

The two plumbers reached into the pockets of their overalls, pulled out a quarter and handed them to the Harvey Girls. Peach handed them one as well, albeit from a change purse that she had been carrying. Then the three customers took a couple sips of their glasses of lemonade.

"Mmm..." Mario sighed contentedly.

"This lemonade is simply delicious," Peach mentioned.

"Oh, yeah," agreed Luigi.

"Well, I'm glad you enjoy our lemonade," Lotta said.

"Thank you very much, Harvey Girls," Peach thanked them.

"Your lemonade is the best!" said Mario. "We're-a gonna go now. We got-a big day ahead of us!"

"Very well, then. You have a good day!" Dot said.

With that, Mario, Luigi and Peach walked away from the lemonade stand, with the Harvey Girls waving goodbye to them. Audrey picked up the three quarters their customers had left them and slid them into their coin bank. Then she, Dot and Lotta began to wait for more customers.

"I wonder if we'll be able to hang out with them this weekend," Audrey stated.

"Maybe," replied Dot. "But even if they don't, we should take every moment to appreciate their generosity and patronage with each time they visit."

Audrey and Lotta both nodded in agreement. Not long afterward, another customer came to the lemonade stand. The Harvey Girls couldn't recognize him, however; the customer was a green dinosaur with a large, round nose, and he wore red shoes.

"Why, hello there," Lotta greeted him. "What's your name?"

"Yoshi," the customer replied in a rather squeaky voice.

"It's nice to meet you, Yoshi," said Dot with a smile. "Would you like a glass of our delicious lemonade?"

Yoshi thought for a moment, and then smiled and nodded. In response, Dot pulled out a plastic cup, while Audrey picked up the pitcher and filled the cup halfway with lemonade. Then she put down the pitcher while Lotta picked up the cup and handed it to Yoshi.

"That'll be 25 cents," said Lotta.

Yoshi smiled as he reached behind his back, pulled out a quarter and handed it to her. As Lotta placed the quarter in the coin bank, Yoshi took the glass of lemonade and took a large sip of it. After a moment of comprehending the flavor, he smiled.

"Mmmm..."

"You like it?" Audrey asked, and Yoshi nodded.

"We made all of this delicious lemonade ourselves," said Dot. "It's a simple recipe, but in the right hands, it can be something everyone enjoys."

"Feel free to come back tomorrow if you'd like," replied Lotta.

Yoshi nodded in understanding, or perhaps to let the Harvey Girls know he would, and trilled a bit to thank them for the lemonade. He then turned and walked away from the lemonade stand, and Audrey, Dot and Lotta waved goodbye to him as they watched him go.

"Such a nice dinosaur," Dot commented.

"Not to mention, he looks cute enough to have his own kids' show," Audrey agreed. She then chuckled, and Lotta giggled a bit as well.

"I wonder how it'd do..." Lotta said.

That being said, she snapped out of her thoughts when she and her friends saw some more customers coming. There were six customers in this group, and they were all animals; a cat, a dog, a duck, a chick, a rabbit and a frog. The Harvey Girls smiled at them as they approached the lemonade stand.

"Good morning," Dot greeted them politely, which caused all six of the animals to smile as well.

"I gotta say, you all look pretty cute," Lotta commented. The duck - which was female and had a pink bow on her head - giggled sheepishly at her compliment, while the other five animals blushed.

"Why, thank you," said the duck.

"Would you guys like some lemonade?" Audrey asked. "It's only twenty-five cents per cup."

"Yes, please," the cat replied. Her voice indicated that she was female.

"I'd like some, too," the dog agreed.

"At least twenty-five cents a cup isn't a whole lot," the rabbit replied.

"Yeah, especially compared to store-bought lemonade!" said the frog, who then laughed.

Audrey laughed a bit at his joke, too, and then pulled out six cups. Dot picked up the pitcher and filled each cup halfway with lemonade. As she put it down, Audrey and Lotta took turns handing each animal their cup of lemonade, and they received a quarter from each of the animals in response.

Finally, the six critters had received their lemonade. They each took a sip, and then smiled in satisfaction. The Harvey Girls could all tell that they liked it.

"Ah, this lemonade tastes great!" the cat said.

"Indeed, it does," said the dog. "It may have an easy recipe, but you girls know how to do it right."

"Thank you," said Dot, "I'm glad you all enjoy it."

"How'd you like to come back tomorrow for some more lemonade?" Audrey suggested. "It'll really help us out."

"I'm not too sure about that, but thanks," said the rabbit.

"Besides, we've got lots of things to do," the frog explained.

"But don't worry, we'll definitely come back someday," the duck promised the girls. "We promise."

Audrey, Dot and Lotta smiled at the way she said that. Then the animals walked away from the lemonade stand, with the Harvey Girls waving goodbye to them as they watched them go.

"I really can't wait to see those critters again," Lotta said to Audrey and Dot. "They're such cuties!"

"You know, they are," Audrey agreed. "And they paid us quite a bit, too. Can you imagine how much we'd have if they came every day for... I don't know, a week?"

"It certainly would keep money flowing in," said Dot. "But in the meantime, let's focus on satisfying our customers until it's time for us to return home."

Audrey and Lotta nodded in agreement, and the Girls made some more lemonade until the pitcher was full again. Not long afterward, Audrey saw another customer approaching the lemonade stand. To her happiness, she recognized who it was; it was Tootie from the last two days.

"Hey, Tootie!" Audrey greeted her when she'd gotten close enough to the lemonade stand.

"Hi!" Tootie greeted them. "How are you girls doing on your lemonade stand?"

"We're doing lovely," said Dot. "Would you like a glass of lemonade?"

"Oh, yes, please," said Tootie.

Audrey smiled at her as she pulled out a plastic cup, then picked up her pitcher and poured it into the cup. Then Dot picked up the cup and handed it to Tootie.

"That'll be 25 cents, as usual."

That being said, Tootie reached into the pocket of her skirt and pulled out a dollar bill, rather than a quarter. She handed it to the Girls, and accepted her lemonade.

"Gee, thanks, Tootie," said Lotta as Tootie took a sip of her lemonade, "but isn't this a bit much?"

"Yeah, but it's for all of you," Tootie replied. "Your lemonade is so yummy, I want to make sure you make as much money from it as possible!"

All three of the Harvey Girls smiled gratefully, while Dot took the dollar bill, folded it up and placed it in her pocket.

"Thank you, Tootie!" said Audrey, Dot and Lotta.

"Thank you, too!" Tootie replied.

"By the way, you can call us the Harvey Girls," said Audrey. "In case you didn't know, that's what we call ourselves, and what all of our friends call us. Though I'm Audrey, this here is Dot, and this is Lotta." Audrey gestured to her friends as she told Tootie their names.

"Thanks for telling me that, Harvey Girls," said Tootie. "See you tomorrow!"

Tootie then walked away from the lemonade stand. Audrey, Dot and Lotta could still see her drinking her lemonade, even as they waved goodbye to her.

"Well, even if Mario and Luigi are busy this weekend, at least we still have Tootie," said Audrey.

Dot and Lotta nodded in agreement. Not long afterward, another group of customers came - and the Harvey Girls recognized them, too. They were the boy and his ten sisters from yesterday - except there were actually nine sisters, as the baby wasn't with them today. It was alright, though; the Harvey Girls knew it wasn't that good an idea to let a baby drink lemonade much. The Girls waited until the group came close enough to the lemonade stand before they greeted them.

"Why, hello there," said Dot.

"Hey, there," the boy replied.

"How would you and your sisters like some more lemonade?" Lotta offered.

Almost as soon as she'd finished asking that, she could hear every one of the boy's sisters making comments of agreement. Lotta pulled out ten plastic cups, and filled five of them halfway with lemonade. Then she handed the pitcher to Audrey, who filled the other five with lemonade before she put it down.

"That'll be two dollars and fifty cents," said Audrey. "There are ten of you, after all.

The boy and his sisters formed a single-file line, as they'd done yesterday. Audrey, Dot and Lotta took turns handing each of their customers their lemonade and accepting each quarter they received in response. Now that they'd gotten their lemonade, the group of ten proceeded to enjoy their beverages while Dot placed each quarter in the Harvey Girls' coin bank.

"I don't know how you make this lemonade," said the second-oldest female of the boy's sisters, "but it sure is delicious!"

"Thanks, girls," the boy said to the Harvey Girls.

"Oh, you're welcome," replied Lotta. "You can call us the Harvey Girls, by the way."

After some time, the boy and his sisters walked away from the lemonade stand. Audrey, Dot and Lotta waved goodbye to them as they watched them go.

"I don't know how that boy manages to survive in a family of so many sisters," Dot mentioned, "but I'm glad he does."

A few minutes later, three more customers came to the stand. They were the three fillies from two days ago: the yellow filly with the bow in her mane, the orange Pegasus and the white unicorn.

"Hi!" said the yellow pony.

"Hey!" said the Pegasus.

"Hi!" said the unicorn.

The Harvey Girls all smiled as they recognized the cute fillies.

"Why, hello there!" Dot greeted them. "Would you three like a glass of lemonade?"

"Yes, please," replied the yellow pony.

"Definitely!" the Pegasus agreed.

"Oh, yes, please!" the unicorn agreed.

Lotta pulled out three plastic cups, then picked up the pitcher and filled each cup halfway with lemonade. As she put the pitcher down, Audrey and Dot handed each pony their lemonade.

"That'll be 75 cents," said Audrey.

The ponies each pulled out a quarter and handed them to Dot, who smiled at them as she slid the silver coins into the Harvey Girls' coin bank. Then the fillies took a few sips of their lemonades, smiling contentedly.

"I don't know how you girls made this lemonade, but it's just the coolest," the Pegasus said.

"You're darn right it's the coolest," the yellow pony said in agreement.

"Well, as simple as the recipe is, it takes a few skilled girls to make it high quality," Dot told them, even though they probably didn't know what she was talking about.

After a few minutes, the ponies were finished with their lemonade.

"Yeah, probably. Thank you, Girls!" said the unicorn.

"Yeah, thank you!" the yellow pony and Pegasus replied.

"You're welcome," said Audrey. "Hope you come back soon!"

The three fillies then walked away happily, with Audrey, Dot and Lotta waving goodbye to them as they watched them go.

Now that their customers had gone, the Harvey Girls took a couple of minutes to refill their pitcher of lemonade, which had almost been emptied. And almost as soon as they'd finished, another customer came to the stand. This customer was a girl with orange hair in pigtails, glasses, a gap in her front teeth and what looked like a girl scout uniform. She looked up at the Harvey Girls, smiled and waved to greet them.

"Hi!"

"Well, hello there!" Dot replied, smiling as well. Audrey and Lotta waved to the customer to greet her in return. "How would you like a glass of lemonade?"

"Oh, yes, please!" the customer replied. Due to the gap in her teeth, she had a bit of a lisp in her voice.

Lotta picked up a plastic cup, and then picked up the pitcher and filled the cup halfway with lemonade. Then Audrey picked up the cup and handed it to the customer.

"That'll be 25 cents, please," said Audrey.

The customer reached into her pocket, pulled out a quarter and handed it to Audrey. She then accepted the cup of lemonade and took a rather large sip. She then swallowed and stood where she was as she took a minute to comprehend the flavor. The Harvey Girls were looking at her hopefully.

"Is it okay?" Lotta wanted to know.

"Okay?!" the customer looked back at the lemonade she was holding, and then gave another huge smile. "It's AWESOME!"

The Harvey Girls smiled as well. Her reaction had brought their spirits up. The orange-haired girl took a few more sips of her lemonade and gave a satisfied sigh.

"Can I have some more lemonade, please?" the girl asked.

"Of course you can!" Audrey replied. She picked up the pitcher this time, and then filled the girl's cup halfway again. "It'll cost you 25 more cents, though."

"Ah, no big deal." The customer reached into her pocket, pulled out another quarter and handed it to her. "You deserve it!"

As the young customer took a few more sips of her lemonade, Audrey slid the quarters that she'd given the Girls into their coin bank. She, Dot and Lotta could hear some satisfying clinks as they did so. Finally, the girl with the glasses had finished with her lemonade, and wiped her mouth with her hand.

"Oh, man! This lemonade of yours sure tastes awesome. I'm gonna have to come back tomorrow."

"Cool! Thanks!" Audrey replied. "We're the Harvey Girls, by the way."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, too. And in case you're wondering, my name's Bessie. Thanks for the lemonade!"

"You're welcome, Bessie," replied Lotta.

The girl called Bessie turned and walked away from the lemonade stand. The Harvey Girls stayed at their stand, waving goodbye to her as they watched her go.

"I don't know what's more awesome," Audrey said, "the fact that she's coming back along with Tootie, or how much she relates to me."

"Or how nice she is?" Lotta suggested.

Audrey took a minute to let this sink in, and then smiled in agreement. "Or how nice she is."

A few minutes later, the Harvey Girls heard some cute singing coming from a few feet away. They couldn't make out the lyrics from who was singing, but when they turned to look toward the source of the singing, they couldn't believe their eyes. The one singing appeared to be a pink cat, but she had a blue tail and square paws like a pony, and a blue horn on her head like a unicorn. And next to her was what appeared to be a blue and yellow dog, but he also had square paws like a pony, as well as a horn on his head; the dog was running next to the cat creature and singing along with her.

When the two cute creatures saw the lemonade stand, they stopped singing and darted over to it. The unicorn-cat hybrid made her way back onto the ground when she got close enough.

"Hi!" the cat creature greeted them. "I'm Unikitty!" She then pointed one of her paws to the dog creature next to her. "And this is my little brother Puppycorn."

"Well, hi there, Unikitty! And hi, Puppycorn," Audrey replied.

"It's so good to meet you," said Puppycorn.

"It's nice to meet you, too," Dot replied.

"The two of us were playing together when we saw your lemonade stand," Unikitty explained.

"Yeah, we built this lemonade stand so we can make some extra money for ourselves," said Lotta.

"It's only 25 cents a cup. Do you wanna buy some?" Audrey asked.

"Yes, please!" Unikitty and Puppycorn replied in unison.

Audrey pulled out two plastic cups, and then Dot picked up the pitcher. She filled each cup halfway with lemonade, and then put the pitcher down. Lotta picked up the two cups as Unikitty and Puppycorn each brought out a quarter from their pockets, then placed it on the table. It was then that they received their lemonade and began to drink it.

"Well, what do you think?" Audrey asked.

The two creatures took a minute to finish before they spoke. The Harvey Girls could tell by their big smiles that they were very satisfied.

"Oh, this lemonade is super-duper delicious!" said Unikitty.

"It sure is!" said Puppycorn in agreement.

Audrey, Dot and Lotta smiled. They were glad that these customers were enjoying their drinks, too.

"In fact, maybe we should come back sometime tomorrow and buy some more lemonade!" Unikitty then said.

"Yeah. It's so good, I don't think I can have just one once!" Puppycorn added.

"Well, I'm glad you enjoy our lemonade, too," Dot said. "And thank you very much for your patronage."

"And thank you, too!" Unikitty replied.

"By the way, I'm Lotta," Lotta said. She gestured to each of her friends as she told Unikitty and Puppycorn their names. "And this is Audrey, and this is Dot. Together we're the Harvey Girls."

"Wonderful! I think we're gonna get along great!" said Unikitty. "See you soon!"

Unikitty and Puppycorn then left the lemonade stand; Unikitty flew while Puppycorn walked. Audrey, Dot and Lotta remained, waving goodbye to them as they watched them go. Audrey placed the two quarters that their recent customers had left into the Harvey Girls' coin bank.

"I gotta say, those two are really cute, too," Lotta stated.

"Yeah," Audrey agreed. "And not just cute, but cute-dorable!"

"Indeed," said Dot. "And it's good to know that they'll come back for more of our delicious lemonade as well."

Audrey and Lotta nodded in agreement. A few minutes went by, and two more customers came to the lemonade stand. Unlike everyone else they'd served, however, these were customers that the Harvey Girls recognized as soon as they'd gotten close enough.

"Hi, Lucretia! Hi, FruFru!" Audrey and Lotta greeted them in unison.

"Hi, Harvey Girls!" Lucretia and FruFru replied, also in unison.

"It's so good to see you," Dot mentioned. "We must apologize for not helping out most of the kids as we usually do - we're currently busy with our business."

"It's quite alright, Dot," FruFru replied.

"Yeah!" Lucretia agreed. "Besides, it's great that you girls have found a way to make money. If you ask me, I think you deserve every cent you earn!"

The Harvey Girls looked at her, all three of them a bit sheepish, but happy to hear her comment.

"Gee, thanks, Lucretia," Lotta said.

"But now that we've gotten that out of the way, how'd you two like to buy some of our awesome-tasting lemonade?" Audrey asked.

"Well, I suppose it would be worth trying," said FruFru. "How much is it?"

"A simple twenty-five cents per cup," Dot answered. "That's a quarter, by the way."

"Sounds like a deal!" said Lucretia. "One cup of lemonade, please!"

"And I'll have what she's having, please," FruFru replied.

"Coming right up!" said the Harvey Girls.

Dot pulled out two plastic cups, and Lotta picked up the pitcher before filling both of them halfway with lemonade. When she was done with that, Audrey picked up the cups and handed one to Lucretia, and the other to FruFru. They each gave her a quarter in exchange, and then took a sip of their lemonade.

When she tasted some of her lemonade, Lucretia's eyes began to sparkle. She had to swallow before she could make her comment.

"Oh, my goodness...! This is delicious!" said Lucretia.

FruFru swallowed as well before she made a comment. "Holy Celestia, you're right!"

"What'd I tell you?" Audrey asked, giving a chuckle.

"You're right, Harvey Girls," FruFru stated, "your lemonade is simply delightful!"

Lucretia took a few more sips of her lemonade until her cup was emptied. She then sighed in satisfaction before reaching behind her back and pulling out another quarter. She offered it to the Harvey Girls.

"May I have another cup of lemonade before we go? Please?" she asked.

"But of course!" Dot said. "Like you said, every little cent helps."

Lucretia gave a big smile as she put her quarter down on the table for the Harvey Girls. Then she held out her empty cup, and Dot picked up the pitcher to refill it. Once it was halfway full, Lucretia brought her cup back to her mouth and drank some of the sweet lemonade inside.

"Mmmmm..."

"I'm so happy you girls like our lemonade!" Lotta said.

"And I'm so happy we decided to stop by your lemonade stand," said Lucretia. "Thank you so, so very much!"

"Indeed, thank you very much!" FruFru replied.

"Don't mention it, girls," Audrey replied with a smile. "If you ever wanna come back for some more lemonade, go on and give us a shout."

"Sounds like a plan," said FruFru, "and I'm sure we will."

"Yeah. See you soon, Harvey Girls!" said Lucretia.

With that, she and FruFru walked away from the lemonade stand. Audrey, Dot and Lotta stayed where they were as they waved goodbye to them until they were out of sight. Audrey then placed the extra quarter into the Harvey Girls' coin bank.

"You know, it's about time one of our pals from Harvey Street stopped by for some of our super-licious lemonade," Audrey said.

"Indeed," Dot said. "Not that I didn't enjoy serving unfamiliar people and characters, of course - I, too, was hoping for someone we recognized to stop by for some of our lemonade."

"Me too," said Lotta. "I just hope the Bloogey Boys don't decide to try and ruin our lemonade stand..."

"Lord help us if they do!" Audrey snapped, almost involuntarily. But when she realized what she'd just said, she threw her hand over her mouth. "Sorry."

"Ah, it's quite alright," Dot replied. She then noticed that the sky above was turning an orange shade. "By the way, it's getting late again. Let's see how much money we've earned today."

Audrey nodded, and then picked the coin bank back up. She removed the lid from it and removed the lid and tilted it sideways, so that every quarter that had been inside came sliding or rolling out. The Harvey Girls took turns counting each coin.

"Thirty quarters," said Dot. "It's not as many as yesterday, but it's two dollars and fifty cents for each of us."

"Well, at least it's better than none," Audrey said with a smile.

"Yeah, a lot better than none!" Lotta agreed. "But what about the dollar bill?"

"We'll just have to save it for tomorrow," Dot said. "Luckily, it shouldn't be long before we have more dollars. But for now, let's split our earnings with one another."

Audrey and Lotta nodded in agreement. Then they distributed their coins with one another; indeed, ten quarters went to Audrey, while ten went to Dot and ten went to Lotta. After they had finished placing their quarters in their pockets, however, Lotta felt a tickle in her nose. It must have been from the lowering temperatures that came with the end of a day. She lowered her eyelids as she tilted her neck back, her breath hitching.

"Ah, hah... Haaah... Chyew!" Lotta doubled over as she released a mild sneeze... right onto Audrey and Dot. Thankfully, there was no visible mucus, although they could feel a small amount of saliva hitting their faces.

"Hey!" Dot cried out as she winced.

"Lotta! What even?!" Audrey cried, wincing as well.

Lotta blushed as she stood back up, placing her forefinger underneath her nose. "S-sorry, girls. I guess I got a little too chilly." She sniffled once, rubbing her nose a little.

"You know what? It's alright, Lotta," said Dot, wiping her face off with her arm. She could see that Audrey was cleaning her face off, too, albeit with both her hands instead of one of her arms. "Just cover your mouth next time, okay?"

Lotta nodded in understanding. Just as she finished, however, Audrey and Dot's eyes widened and pupils shrunk at roughly the same time. They lowered their eyelids and tilted their necks backward. They, too, were going to sneeze, now that Lotta's germs had gotten to them.

"Aaah... Aaaah..." Their buildups sounded almost exactly the same, but the same couldn't be said for their climactic inhales or actual sneezes.

"AHHHHH-- CHOO!!!" That was what Audrey's sneeze sounded like.

"HAAAHHHH-- CHUU!!!" And that was what Dot's sneeze sounded like.

Audrey and Dot then sulked as they rubbed their noses; Dot used her other arm, while Audrey used her forefinger. Lotta stood where she was, a bit surprised that they'd sneezed in unison.

"Bless you, Audrey. And bless you, Dot," said Lotta.

"Thanks..." Audrey and Dot continued to rub their noses.

"But really, that's why you should cover your mouth," Audrey said. She gave a sniffle. "It's not cool to share your germs with your friends."

"I know, and I'm sorry," Lotta apologized again. "I'll try to remember, I promise."

"That would be great, and besides, it's alright," Dot replied. "But for now, let's clean up and go home for the night."

Audrey and Dot agreed, then helped her pack up their remaining ingredients. Dot twisted the opening of the cups shut and held it tight with a rubber band before she placed it into her basket, along with some leftover sugar, unopened water bottles and the remaining kitchen supplies. By the time they were done, the sky was minutes away from turning the dark blue shade the night had. All three of the Harvey Girls wished each other a good night and headed on to their respective homes.

The first thing they did when they got there was put away their ingredients and wash their hands, and then they sat down at the tables for dinner. Although they had different meals - Audrey had some fried chicken, Dot had a vegetable pot pie, and Lotta had some mashed potatoes with a hint of carrot - it was clear that they all enjoyed their supper.

Soon the girls were finished eating. They went upstairs to the bathrooms, where they took their baths, brushed their teeth and put on their cozy pajamas. Finally, they went into their bedrooms, stepped into their beds, and each earned a goodnight kiss from one of their parents; Lotta's father kissed her on the forehead, Dot's father kissed her on the cheek, and Audrey's mom kissed her on the lips. And after the lights had been shut off, all three of the Harvey Girls drifted off to sleep. From that point until the morning came, they could hear the crickets chirping outside.

Although the Harvey Girls were glad that at least two of their friends from Harvey Street had tried some of their lemonade, they were looking forward to finding out who else would come to their lemonade stand tomorrow. One thing was for sure, though: as long as whoever tried their lemonade really liked it or loved it, they would have plenty of money for themselves before they knew it.


End file.
